With extension finalized, Mets' Jon Niese poised for the next step

Brad Barr-US PRESSWIREMets and starter Jon Niese have reached a long-term deal underscoring the franchise's opinion of him for the future.

NEW YORK — He arrived in the Mets organization seven years ago as a stone that required chiseling. Jon Niese possessed a fluid left-handed delivery, a cocksure nature and a slew of obstacles in his path to a steady spot in a major-league rotation.

“It’s not like they’re all perfect when they all start,” said Omar Minaya, the Mets general manager when the team drafted Niese in 2005. “But that’s what development is all about.”

The process resulted in a product worth paying. Niese, scheduled to start tomorrow against the Atlanta Braves, passed a physical yesterday as the final touch on a five-year, $25.5 million extension with club options through 2018 that could push the total value of the contract to $46 million. General manager Sandy Alderson gambled on Niese, he of the career 4.39 ERA, because, at 25, the organization feels he has progressed through his growing pains.

As a teenage minor-leaguer, he adapted to the rigors of professional baseball. As a 20-something in the majors, he overcame questions about his maturity. And as a regular member of the rotation, he learned to sharpen his pitching sequences.

His evolution, then, underscores the complexity of the Mets current challenge: Developing major-league starters through the farm system. On diamonds from Savannah to Binghamton to Buffalo, this is the goal.

Paul DePodesta, the club’s vice president of scouting and player development, recently raved about what he considered an influx in pitching depth. This spring, both Class-A affiliates will use six-man rotations, and “on most nights this summer, health permitting, we’ll have ‘prospect’ pitchers starting games at every level,” DePodesta wrote in a recent email.

Attention swirls around former first-round picks like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. But the organization also pours effort into shaping lesser-known pitchers, like Darin Gorski, Cory Mazzoni and Domingo Tapia.

Hype didn’t overwhelm Niese in the minors. He grew up in Defiance, a town of about 16,000 in northwestern Ohio located a little more than an hour south of Toledo. Scouts were familiar with the outpost: They trekked there in droves before the 2003 draft, ogling a burly right-hander named Chad Billingsley, an eventual first-round pick by the Dodgers. They also caught sight of Niese, a slinky lefty, a sophomore throwing fastballs in the mid-80s.

By his senior season, Niese’s velocity touched 90 mph and he was on the rise. His nickname was “Jonchalant,” because his reaction to success was so casual. In 78 innings that year, he allowed a single earned run, drubbing hitters with his heater and curveball. A seventh-round pick, he signed for $175,000 and intended to dominate once more. Then, in his first Gulf Coast League start that summer, he noticed his jack-hammering heart and quivering legs.

“I thought I would just come here and think I would do the same thing, it would just be that easy,” Niese said. “And all of a sudden, boom, somebody hits a home run off me. I’m like, ‘Well, that doesn’t happen very often.’ ”

Niese recovered to pitch well during the brief season. Heading into the spring of 2007, though, he upset team officials by reporting to camp overweight. “That stuff happens with kids, because they just don’t know,” Minaya said. “He had some issues. You have to teach them — that’s what development is.”

Under Minaya’s regime, the Mets emphasized challenging their prospects. “We were always pushing our guys,” Minaya said, and Niese shined under that strain. At 19, Niese reached the Class-A Florida State League — the same league Harvey spent most of last season as a 22-year-old. At 21, Niese bested Double A with a 3.04 ERA.

“You could see the potential was there,” said Ricky Bones, his pitching coach in Binghamton that season in 2008. “It was just a matter of time.”

As Niese rose through the minors, he smothered internal worries by projecting outward confidence, the sort of persona that counteracts decorum. Rookies should be seen, not heard boasting about the nastiness of their stuff — even if the rookie is accurate in his self-appraisal.

When Niese debuted in the majors in September 2008, that quality sometimes chafed his teammates. Mike Pelfrey, who is three years older than Niese, grinned when asked about his initial impression of his teammate. “The word I’d use is immature,” he said. “But at that age, everybody’s immature.”

On the mound, he required seasoning as well. As a full-time big-leaguer in 2010, Niese became infatuated with his cutter. He flung the pitch more than 25 percent of the time, which lessened the usage of his best pitch. “Your curveball is so nasty,” first baseman Ike Davis told Niese early last season. “Why don’t you use it more?”

Pitching coach Dan Warthen preached a similar strategy. Niese pocketed the cutter more often in 2011, opting instead for four-seamers and two-seamers. He flashed signs of excellence, like a 2.96 ERA from May 18 to July 21, before he faded and an August oblique strain ended his campaign. Consistency will be his next hurdle.

The organization believes Niese’s performance will match his underlying product, that his ability to induce ground balls and record three strikeouts for every walk allowed will result in fewer runs allowed. They believe his much-publicized rhinoplasty nose surgery improved his conditioning.

And the organization that developed him, which chiseled away at some of his imperfections, can move on to their next project.